A Cursed Mane
by Seth Kinslayer
Summary: Before her banishment, Princess Luna had a personal bodyguard, more powerful than the entire royal army. He too was banished and lost all his memories. With Luna's help he finds them.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

As I stood by the door in Princess Luna's quarters, my post for the last 23 years, I noticed the day drawing towards a close. I glided towards her bed to awaken her. "Awake my mistress," I said gently form without the curtains, "The hour for you to raise the pale one into the sky draws nigh."

"We thank you Seth," she said from within. "We heed your dutiful wakening of us." A black alicorn, much like Seth himself, but slightly older and with black and deep blue floaty mane instead of his own hellsfire hair, stepped out of the curtained area where she slept and adorned her royal crown and chest plate. They walked together in silence to the palace balcony. Luna's sister Celestia was already there to lower the golden one once the pale was raised.

"Good evening sister," Celestia greeted her, mutually ignoring Seth.

"Good evening," Luna replied. "There was something-"

Could you just raise the pale one already so we can get some sleep sister?" Celestia asked impatiently, cutting her off.

"Understood sister. We will call to the pale one." Luna's horn glowed deep purple as she concentrated. Slowly, the moon rose into the sky, though the sun still dwarfed it. Seeing this, Celestia also concentrated, her horn glowing pure white. Once the two heavenly bodies had swapped their positions, Luna tried again to ask her sister something, but again was cut off by Celestia walking away.

"Permissible for me to inquire what is troubling you, my lady?" I asked once she had left.

"It is nothing we wish to trouble you with faithful servant," Luna replied. "Although it would please us if you got a meal for us to consume."

"It shall be done," I said with a bow. The trip to the kitchens was a short one and the cooks had memorized the royalty's meal schedules. All I had to do was deliver her food to her.

As I reentered the balcony's vestibule, Luna called out, as normal, to be sure it was me. I responded and walked out into the night and set the dish before her.

You asked earlier if we would tell you what was wrong," Luna said, not sounding quite herself. "Do you still wish to know Seth?"

I nodded, then remembering that she was facing away from me I responded, "Yes, my lady."

"We are troubled by a feeling inside of us. It is like us, but not entirely. It loathes our sister and is envious of how all the common folk enjoy her day and ignore our night. It says we are worthless and that our sister hates us. It is strong this night. We fear that we cannot control its emotion. We fear that it will take over our mind. We wish for-" Luna was cut off again, but this time it seemed that she had stopped herself and was having difficulty remaining composed. Then, her body grew. She was almost the same, but larger, and an evil aura emanated from her. Tuning to me she smiled, a slow sadistic smile. "Tonight, we end this silly cycle of day and night Seth Mythrion. Tonight we destroy Celestia. Follow us faithful guard."

With that, she took of from the balcony, me following her on a slow spiral around to Princess Celestia's personal quarters. We landed on the windowsill and stepped in. "Arise foolish sister of mine. Arise and face me in battle," this new Luna shouted across the room.

Guards rushed in, but at the non-verbal command, I barred their way. Celestia awoke and stepped into the glow of the moon behind Luna. "Who are you?" She asked in the most regal tone possible after having been asleep.

"We are Nightmare Moon," Luna responded. "We believe that our night gets to little credit, and so are removing the day to solve this dilemma."

At this, the guards again tried to get past me, but my glaive and magic held them at bay as the royalty stared at each other angrily. Their horns crossed, each glowing with magic. They were evenly matched, despite Celestia's 5-year advantage. Eventually, they broke apart. "You leave us with no choice, one who claims to be my sister," Celestia growled, taking another step back. "We invoke the rights of the Royalty of Equestria, and give our soul unto Harmony's embrace. You who want eternal night, be banished for one thousand years to the moon you so love. Element Caress!"

With the lack of Luna, my orders were nonexistent. I unbarred the path the guards sought to take. "Who was that Mythrion? Why did you obey her commands?" Celestia questioned.

"Luna. Because she was Luna," I replied.

"That was not Luna. She herself said so. However, as that is obviously what you were lead to believe, you shall be banished, not killed. With our power as Princess, we decree this: 'If the alicorn Seth Mythrion is seen within the borders of Equestria, he is to be killed.'" She turned to face me. "You have half a day Mythrion. Make yourself scarce."

"I might leave. I don't really feel like it right now though. Maybe tomorrow," I replied, not caring that she was the Princess. "My mistress was just banished, so I'm not really in the mood to travel yet."

"Then you shall be dead come this time on our next day," She replied firmly.

"Who shall execute me? Both You and I know my strength in combat is greater than yours, though I be 52 seasons your younger. The number of guards that would fall at mine hand would nowhere near equal the one who would fall by you. I will leave once I am ready to, and no sooner." With this, I turned and left.

Celestia glared after me. "Erase his name from all documents. He never existed." Once her guards had left her, she whispered maliciously down the corridor I had taken. "May your head forever be cursed Seth Mythrion. May you forget everypony you meet once you leave their company, and every place you go once you leave its walls. May this curse lay forever squarely on your head."

**A/N: I own nothing in this fanfic except the character of Seth Mythrion and a few others I might add later.**

**As a warning, I am as unoriginal as a cliché. I will use other people's ideas A LOT.**

**To anyone that caught the reference in Celestia's chant where she banished NM: Congratulations. You have about as much of a life as I do.**


	2. Immortal Outcast

I strolled though the forest, feeling as if I had been here a long time ago. Curse this curse and its confounding confusion. At least I knew about it now, 1,000 years after it was placed on me. It gave my wandering another purpose, a more definite one. Before that monk told me, I had just traveled randomly, training in every town I passed through and searching for the meaning of my mark, a shield with a dark splotch that had a crescent moon in the center of it. Obviously, I was the guard of something, but what? The moon? "No," I told myself yet again. "That's ridiculous. Why would you, a wandering warrior, be in charge of the safety of a heavenly body? Not even the mentors you can vaguely remember thought that was logical."

Fondly, I listed off those mentors in my head. 1- Those ponies with the holes in them that taught me transformation. It was with them that I stayed the first years of my travels. 2- The stripped ponies and the tall-necked ponies. The excelled in potion making, and with their help, I learned venomancy. 3- The monks in the hidden fortress were my latest mentors, teaching me the ways of necromancy. I had spent the most recent years with them, leaving only recently. It was there that I had learned of my curse. When I left, the monks pointed me in the direction of the pony that could most likely remove it. If only I could remember who it was that they said.

Impulsively, I took flight, stretching out my wings to their full eight-foot span, gliding casually. Looking around, I saw two areas of inhabitation. The first was a castle suspended from the side of a cliff. In the shadow of said cliff was a small town. Turning toward the latter, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Two towers peeked above the trees of the forest, and I felt strangely drawn to them.

I landed on a windowsill at the top of one of the towers and looked in. On the floor, worn but visible, was the same design that was on my flank, but without the shield. Slightly confused, I flew to the other tower's window. On the floor of this room was a sun design. Were these the towers of day and night? And hence this the castle of time? Destroyed by itself? I needed to remember this place to ask someone in that town about. Slowly I flew to the apex of the tower and directed myself towards the town. I took a deep breath and launched me off the tower as quickly as I could. AS I flew, I repeated this in my head: "What's the castle in the woods?" I was determined not to forget this until I was answered. I passed the last tree of the forest and still remembered clearly. I saw a cottage with a pink-haired, yellow pegasus in front of it. _"Perfect,"_ I thought, still remembering my question. I landed a few yard away from her and called out "You there! Can you tell me what the castle in the woods is?"

At least that was what I meant to say. As soon as "You there!" had passed my lips, the pegasus screamed and ran into her cottage. And I'd forgotten my question too. Drat. In retrospect though, maybe 'You there!' wasn't the best way to greet someone. Oh well. I could still find out about the town. After a bit of walking though, from above I heard "Look out!" called out from a falling pegasus. She had a blue coat and a rainbow mane. I didn't bother to move as she ran into me, knocking me back a few feet.

"Sorry about that," she said sheepishly, "I was practicing a new trick and kinda lost control."

"Irrelevant. Are there any powerful mages or warriors in the town over there?" I asked while straightening my fedora and sunglasses.

"Ponyville? Not really. There's Twilight, but she's not that great yet. Don't tell her I said that though!"

"Sure," I began to walk away, but the mare flew in front of me.

"Who are you anyway?"

"Who are you to ask my name?"

"I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria and future member of the Wonderbolts."

"The who?"

"The Wonderbolts. The best fliers in Equestria."

"Never heard of them," I again started to walk, and again she flew in front of me.

"You still haven't told me your name."

"Why do you want to know it so badly?"

"I told you who I was."

"Your point is?"

"It's common courtesy."

"Mythrion. Now move."

"Can I-"

"No. Move." Once again, I began to walk towards this Ponyville, and finally got past her. _"If this whole town is full of weirdoes like those two, I don't care what anyone teaches, I'm not staying,"_ I thought to myself as I entered the town proper. Suddenly, a wondrous smell assaulted my nostrils. There was a food stand in my vicinity. Apple. There it was, and only three bits for a pie. I tossed them in the collection bin and took the pie.

I had only just finished it when pink filled my vision. And by pink, I mean **_PINK_**. "AreYouNewInTown?OfCourseYouAre!BecauseIDon' .SoINeedToThrowAWelcomeToPony villePartyForYou!ToWelcomeYouToPonyville!AndAfterItWe'llBeFriendsForeverAndEverAnd EverAndEver!Won'tThatBeFun?OfCourseItWill!It'sAParty!APinkiePieParty!" This crazy mare stared at me with a creepy smile. I stared back blankly, trying to piece together what she had just said. A full minute later, I finally understood half of it.

"I'm just passing through, and I'm not really a party person anyway."

Pinkie Pie - as I assumed she was called - gasped. "You don't like parties?"

"Not really. I don't really like groups of ponies."

"A small party then?"

"I'm only passing through. I'm not even going to be here tomorrow."

"We could have it today then."

"I would rather not have a party."

She deflated. I felt a bit sorry for her, but I needed to keep moving to be able to reach the city on the cliff by sunset. I continued walking, not wanting to draw the attention of the few ponies nearby by flying. A white unicorn with a purple mane turned up her nose at me, but that was all the attention I got thankfully. All I had to do was pass a weird tree house and I was out of the town. _"Of course somepony would want to talk to me now."_ I thought as a purple unicorn rushed out of the tree at me. "Are you an alicorn? What's your name? What are you doing here? Come inside so we can talk." The purple unicorn asked quickly.

"Yes, Seth Mythrion, leaving, no," I answered and continued walking, hoping she would leave. She didn't.

"Why not?"

"I have no reason to."

"But we have so much to talk about."

"No we don't."

"Why don't we?"

"There is nothing to discuss. I came, I saw, I'm leaving."

"But we need to talk about why you're here. It's what I need to do."

"And I care why?"

"Because I'm Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia."

"Student of whom?"

"Princess Celestia. The princess."

"Never heard of her." I began to walk away, not even listening as she called after me until I heard my name.

"Seth! Get back here!"

Don't call me that. No."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so. I have more ability than this entire town, and have no qualms about turning it on you."

"But then you'd have to deal with Celestia as well. She can do more than you, I grantee it."

I turned to face her again. "Hiding behind power? How mature. I still don't care."

"Why don't you care Seth?"

"I believe I said not to call me that."

"What else is there to call you?"

"I'm leaving so it doesn't matter, but Myth would work well."

"No, we still have to talk about why you're here, and I liked Seth better."

My horn glowed reddish-black and Twilight flew into the wall of the tree house. My magic pinned her there and grasped her mind. _"Illusion of fractured spine."_ I thought. She cried out in pain. "What is your obsession with annoying me?"

"My friends complained about you. I was trying to find out who you were."

"You did that, but continued to pester me. Why?"

"I didn't."

"I told you who I was. Were you to busy being stuck up to notice?"

"You just told me your name."

"Wasn't that enough?"

Townsfolk began to peek out of their houses at me. I didn't care. This mare had annoyed me enough.

"Your name isn't who you are." Twilight said, still attempting to reason with me, but with a pleading undertone.

"It's enough for foolish mortals such as yourself."

"Please let me go," She begged.

"I will leave now, and you will do nothing. Understood?"

She nodded, and I released my grip on her. I took off and flew towards the castle. Once I had left the town, I dawned on me that I could still remember the six ponies I had interacted with. Did they have some strange magic, or was the curse wearing thin? It mattered not.

A tower loomed out of the darkening sky in front of me. I veered to the side as a tongue of green fire passed me and went into the tower. Following it, I saw another tower behind the first. Deciding to visit this one first, I landed on the window. Inside was a room fit for a queen. Other than that, it was nondescript, except for the floor. The mark on my flank's shield dominated it. Weird. I flew to the other window. This room was similar, but had a sun on the floor. In the middle of the sun, there sat a white alicorn reading a letter. She looked up, as if expecting me. "So it is you Mythrion."


	3. Rediscovered Memories

_**If anyone reading this would dislike in-depth descriptions of Celestia getting tortured, then I suggest skimming over this chapter rather than reading it. This is the last time I plan on injuring any main characters (mane six, princesses, most named ponies. (does not include Diamond Tiara ect.) ) Mythrion will calm down alot more as the story goes on.**_

* * *

"…Who are you?" I asked, rather stupidly.

"Oh, that's right. You can't remember me," she paused to laugh royally. "I'm Princess Celestia, the pony that cursed you, the pony that loathes your very existence, the very powerful pony that you insulted 1000 years ago."

"I suppose then that it's too much to ask you to lift the curse."

"Of course it is. You aren't even supposed to be in Equestria, let alone Canterlot."

"Why not?"

"I banished you, you're public enemy number 1 since Nightmare Moon's defeat, etcetera, etcetera."

"Who is this Nightmare Moon you speak of?"

"Fine! I'll give you back the memories I hold so I can stop explaining everything." Celestia's horn glowed. Slowly, images of a much younger me guarding an alicorn surrounded by malice; exiled, not caring, leaving about a week later; the very beginnings of a forest around a castle. Around these memories was still foggy. I could see myself training, but not why. "Do you understand now?"

I decided not to answer that question. Celestia stared at me. Impassively, I returned her gaze.

"You're not talking to me, are you?"

I decided not to answer that either. The staring resumed, beginning to become a contest of wills. Behind us, a door opened and I heard hoof steps coming toward us. "Seth?" a familiar, but unplaceable voice asked. "Seth Mythrion?"

"Should I know you?" I asked, not turning my head from Celestia. She laughed slightly.

"Of course you should. It is us, Luna," the voice said.

"If that name rings a bell, then it is an incredibly small and quiet bell.

Celestia broke eye contact, struggling to not laugh louder. I turned to look at the owner of the voice, this self-proclaimed Luna. She was slightly shorter than me with a black coat. Her mane was black and deep blue and floated as if in an invisible breeze. On her flank was the design I had seen on the floor of the other tower and my shield. "Are you the one with the power to lift the curse upon me, oh one of great beauty?" I queried.

At this, Celestia completely lost her regal air and began laughing uncontrollably.

"Curse? What curse? Hold still." At the last words, Luna's horn glowed and I felt my mind being searched, but there was no malice in the act. All I felt from it was worry, confusion, and care. I traced the spell into Luna's mind and found images of me occupying most of her thoughts. It was a younger me though. Before I could investigate this further, Luna finished her investigation of my mind and cut the spell. "Celestia, why is our guard cursed this way? Remove it now!"

"I'd prefer not."

"We wish to know why you refuse."

"I need not explain my actions to the likes of you."

Luna looked at me. "Is it too much to ask you to help us, as what we are doing is to your benefit?

I considered the offer. I was in her memories, but that was before or during my wandering. Her mark was similar to mine, but that could just be happenstance. I did want to know why my curse could not be removed though. "What do you wish done?"

"Something effective."

I focused on Celestia. Though her mind was strong, she was physically weak. A cloud of gas enveloped her hear and she fell to the ground.

"How is she supposed to answer questions while unconscious?"

"She can't. That's not the point though." A glowing table rose from the floor under Celestia. It then formed spikes and ropes that bound her to it. "You ask the questions," I said as the table ceased to glow and Celestia stirred.

Celestia awoke from her forced sleep and quickly realized what was happening, shock visible on her face. "I didn't expect some kind of inquisition!"

"Nopony expects the Maneish Inquisition!" I said in a loud, dramatic voice.

"What is this?" she asked trying to see the table she was tied to.

"My preferred variation of the rack. But that is irrelevant. Luna will ask you questions, you will answer them truthfully. Is that understood?" Without waiting you an answer, I nodded to Luna. If Celestia didn't understand, she would soon.

"What are the parameters of the curse?" Luna asked.

She remained silent and I raised the spikes just far enough for her to feel them on her back. Still she was quiet. The spikes scratched her white pelt and a few drops of blood dripped through holes on the spikes. A bit further and the drops grew to trickles.

"That Mythrion will forget everypony and place he knows once he leaves their company," Celestia finally said.

"Will you reverse it?"

"No."

I tightened the ropes, bringing Celestia's body taught on the spikes. She glared defiantly at nothing in particular. Another notch of tightness and her legs had visible strain on them.

"I can't," she snapped.

"Why not?"

"Because I can't."

Simultaneously, I tightened the ropes and raised the spikes. Blood now flowed freely and there was strain on the ropes also. Celestia jolted with pain.

"It's a curse! It has to be broken, not removed!"

How can it be broken?"

Celestia's face showed wavering determination to not tell us anything. With a loud pop, her legs dislocated. "His memory is in-" Her will reasserted itself as the initial pain passed.

"In what?"

Celestia remained silent, but was visibly struggling to. I drove another inch of steel into her back. "Approximately three minutes until she loses consciousness due to blood loss, four until likely death." Celestia's horn glowed, but it faded quickly and nothing happened. "Oh, I forgot to mention the poison on these spikes. It interrupts magic, and with how much is in your bloodstream right now, I'd say you're not casting anything for about ten hours. The way you're going though, I don't think you'll ever see that."

"You wouldn't kill me. I'm no use to you dead," she said as her eyes widened.

"Not much use at least. But who ever said that?"

"So you won't kill me?

"I never said that either. Now answer."

"Will I die?" Celestia's voice was becoming hysterical.

With another half an inch of spike in her back, an artery ruptured and blood gushed out of her.

"Your memories are in deposits around the world! I don't know where or how to get them back. Don't kill me!" Celestia passed out. I lowered the spikes as Luna's horn glowed to stop the bleeding. The ropes went slack, and the table lowered back into the floor. I began to search the princess' mind unopposed. It was very organized, much like a filing cabinet. Molly, Mom, Mythrion, Nearby countries, Next week. Inside Mythrion were two subdivisions: Laws regarding, and Memories. I checked Laws first. I wasn't allowed in the country, but no one was allowed to know I existed. How flawed. Memories was almost empty, but there was one thing in it. I mentally reached out to it. The memory flowed back into me and I shuddered. It was coated in jealousy. I assumed that Celestia had looked at this often.

* * *

I had been called up from my cellar room in the orphanage. Apparently, there was someone here to see me. This had happened before. When an orphanage got tired of me, they found another. I never lasted long at any of them, but I learned all I could while I was there. Once I was to the door though, there were four alicorns, three mares and a stallion. They couldn't be from an orphanage. They all looked too royal.

"So you have no idea where he's from?" the stallion asked my caretaker.  
"None. The story is that his first orphanage found him on their doorstep with a note reading 'Ask no questions. His name shall be Mythrion.' Since then he's been passed around orphanages for no apparent reason, but some say it's at order of the king. He's been with us about 2 moons."

"Does he enjoy life?"

"He doesn't talk much, but he's always trained well and carefully. His social skills are la"

"What does his training entail?"

"He's fairly proficient with magic and close combat for one his age."

He turned to the mares. "What do you three think?"

They all regarded me. The older, cream colored one and young white one seemed to dislike me, but the smallest was obviously happy. "We like him Daddy! Can we keep him?"

"He's a pony, not a pet."

"Can he be our friend then?"

The young white pony spoke up, distaste dripping from her voice. "We think he looks funny. There's too much perk in his hair and both it and his coat look disgusting."

"Celestia! Royalty do not talk that way to the faces of the common class!" the older mare exclaimed. "Silence thyself!"

"Why not ask him thyself Luna?" the golden stallion suggested to the small black one.

"Ok daddy!" She walked up to me happily and asked, "Do you want to be our friend Mr. Pony?"

"Who are you?" I counter asked.

"We are Princess Luna. Who are you?"

"We are The Hidden Orphan of Mane, Mythrion."

"You did not answer our question yet!"

"What need have you of friends? We have never seen the point of them. Nopony would truly consider one such as me as a friend anyway."

"We would! Friends are of great importance to us, but it is only our sister Celestia that we have to fulfill that in us."

"If you would have us, then we will follow you, but friendship is beyond us."

"Come now then Mythrion. We have your education to attend to!"

"Education?"

"Yes. In friendship."

* * *

I awoke with a start. Though this memory didn't fit in with my otherwise oldest, but I could see how they fit together. I had failed at friendship and become her guard. Turning, I nodded farewell to Luna. My presence here was no longer needed. Walking to the door, I held it open for Luna to pass through, and once she had, I shut it and jumped out the window, spreading my wings to glide back toward Ponyville. How did I remember that name? Right, the egocentric rainbow one had said it. Maybe she held some of my memories! I would go into town and find out tomorrow. Right now, I felt I should rest. Sleep, as most thought of it was unneeded, but a time of calmness and concentration was needed for spell casting. I landed just outside the town on a cloud.

"Who are you?" a voice to my left asked.

"A traveler," I responded.

"Well it's too late for you to be doing any traveling. Come inside, you can sleep on my couch."

"This is a house?"

"Of course. Most pegasi live on clouds." The pony opened a door I hadn't noticed before at walked in. I followed, surprised by her kindness. "The couch is over there. See you in the morning." She said with a yawn. Before I could respond, she went through another door and shut it behind her. I lay down on the couch and closed my eyes.

* * *

_**I have realized that I should start putting a general disclaimer in all of my chapters with the sheer amount of things I am borrowing ideas from.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I, Seth Kinslayer, own none of the many things in this story.**_


	4. Derping Around Ponyville

**Derping Around Ponyville**

I woke up on the sofa that the pegasus had lent me to sleep on. She was the first decent pony I'd met in Ponyville. Granted I hadn't given any others a chance, but I hadn't needed to.

"Good morning," she said cheerily, coming into the room.

"Morning," I replied, "I don't believe I got your name last night."

"Derpy Hooves. It's because of my eyes." Looking more closely at them, I could tell that they pointed different directions.

"Is it hard to see like that?"

"A bit. I've gotten used to it though. What's your name? She seemed eager to get off the topic of her eyes. She probably got ridiculed for them a lot.

"Mythrion. Seth Mythrion."

"Myth-ri-on," she carefully pronounced, "It's a bit long, isn't it? Could I just call you Seth?"

"I would rather not. I would you prefer that you called me Myth."

"Ok. Why though? Most ponies use their first name, not part of their last."

"Strong personal preference. I don't like people calling me by my first name unless their very important to me."

"Ok. Where'd you come from?"

"When?" I asked, only half paying attention now. Most of my mind was deciding where to look for my memories.

"Last night."

"The castle on the mountain I think."

"What do you mean you think?"

"I have difficulty remembering things."

"Oh. Do you remember where you were before that?"

"I remember passing through Ponyville, but not much for a while before that."

"When before then was it?"

"If I tell you, you can't tell anypony, ok?" She nodded. "When I was exiled over 1,000 years ago."

"How old are you?"

"I'm not completely sure, but I think about the same age as Luna."

"The princess?"

"Yes."

"I wouldn't have guessed that you're that old."

Alicorn's bodies don't age normally after a certain point. We don't quite live forever, but it's close."

"Cool. I bet you know a lot of stuff."

"More than most ponies alive. Do you have anything to eat?"

"I could make muffins!"

"What's a muffin?"

"You don't know what muffins are? You're coming with me!"

"To where?"

"Sugarcube Corner!"

"Why?"

"Because the Cakes have a bigger kitchen than me."

"Who?"

"The town bakers." She began pushing me out the door. I sighed and started walking out onto the cloud. She looked so happy, and I needed to eat anyway. Maybe I could get her to show me around town afterwards so I could see if any of my memories were here. What was a muffin anyway?

As we walked through town, I could feel eyes on me. There was fear in those eyes; none would meet my gaze, or even try to. My sunglasses made sure that true eye contact couldn't be made. "How much farther Miss Hooves?" I asked.

"You can just call me Derpy. And it's right over there," she said while gesturing down the street at a building that could only be a bakery. I mentally smacked myself. How didn't I notice that? As we walked in, I saw the pink pony from yesterday standing in the storefront. "Hi Pinkie! Where are the Cakes?" Derpy happily asked.

"They're in the kitchen deciding what to-" Pinkie gasped as she saw me come through the door.

"Ok," Derpy was already walking into the next room as I shut the outside door and Pinkie dashed into it. I hadn't planned on her slamming face-first into it, that's what she did. It seemed like she did this a lot though, because she quickly got back up and started staring at me.

"You said yesterday that you were leaving," she said, as if this were the biggest crime of the century.

"I did. I came back."

"After what you did to Twilight? Even Nightfall didn't like it."

"It was all in her head, no permanent damage was done, except maybe a deflated ego."

"Are you sure? She's been in her house all day." Her eye popped out a bit as she looked at me inquisitorially.

"It was naught more than a waking nightmare."

"Okie-dokie-lokie," she said slowly.

"Myth! We can use the kitchen!" Derpy called, even happier than before.

"Coming!" I tipped my hat to Pinkie and went into the room where Derpy was. As we baked, I considered her. There wasn't anything special about her that I could see, but she had a strange allure about her. She could teach well, and I learned fast, so in almost no time at all, we had 4 dozen muffins. 12 plain, 12 blueberry, 12 chocolate, and 12 cranberry. I could understand why she liked making them so much. I personally preferred the eating part, but it was almost as enjoyable to bake them, or did I just enjoy it because of Derpy?

"Myth, can I ask you a question?"

"Other than the one that you just did? Sure."

"Is there anything wrong with your eyes?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"You haven't taken your glasses off all day. You even slept in them."

"You watched me sleep?"

"I woke up early because I wasn't sure if you would be awake. When I saw that you weren't, I went back to my room."

"Ok." I removed my sunglasses and looked down at my eyes reflected in them. They were a deep blue with red flecks throughout the irises. "The eyes are the window into the soul, so I just got used to wearing a pair during training. If you can read a pony's eyes, you can read their life."

"I don't really get it, but it seems important to you, so I'll just go with it."

I replaced my glasses and we ate in silence until we both could eat no more. "What should we do now?" I asked when we finished giving the rest of the muffins to the Cakes to sell.

"I'm not sure, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know what there is to do. I was thinking maybe I could find out who a few ponies are."

"Who are they?"

"Rainbow Dash, Twilight, an earth pony in a hat that sells good apple pies, a shy pegasus, and a snooty unicorn. And Pinkie confuses me." At that moment, she was sneaking rather poorly into Sugarcube Corner.

"Why do you want to know about them?" she asked with a slightly defensive edge on her voice.

"I half-met them yesterday and wanted to find out a bit of general knowledge about them."

"Ok. Pinkie confuses everypony, but she's really nice. She worked on a rock farm when she was younger, but moved in with the cakes so that she could host parties. Rainbow Dash is the fastest pony around and hopes to join the Wonderbolts someday. They're the best fliers in all of Equestria" As she talked, we walked around town, and she pointed out interesting buildings, such as the Town Hall and Quills and Sofas, to me. "Twilight is the personal student of Princess Celestia, here to study the magic of friendship. The pony in the hat is Applejack, one of the co-owners of Sweet Apple Acres. The shyest pegasus around is Fluttershy. She takes care of the animals of the town. Did the unicorn look like her?" She pointed to the unicorn I had seen yesterday and I nodded. "She's Rarity. She owns and runs the boutique that's behind her."

"Sir Alicorn!" Rarity called out. "Come over here please."

I glanced questioningly at Derpy and she shrugged. "What?" I asked as we walked over.

"Pinkie said I could do something about how you two looked if I wanted to."

"Why would you want to?"

"For the party of course."

"What party?"

The one that Pinkie is hosting later."

"How does that involve us?"

"Pinkie invites everyone to her welcome to Ponyville parties."

"Oh. Let's get this over with then." Rarity was one of the ponies that might have some of my memories, but the faster this was over, the better.

Fast was not a word that could be used to describe what happened in that carousel-shaped building. First, she measured me, and then started comparing an assortment of fabrics to my color and my fedora. Eventually, she threw her hooves up and said "It just doesn't work!" and proceeded to whisk Derpy into s back room, presumably to do the same to her as had just happened to me. Looking around the room, I noticed an open chest of jewels next to six ponyquins with dresses on them. I didn't know mare's formal attire very well, but these look very well made. Had Rarity made them?

Gems however, I knew fairly well. I lifted one up to my face and inspected it. Emerald, 1 ounce, well faceted. As my horn glowed, it grew, layer upon layer, and soon it weighed 9 ounces. My magic tightened and it shattered into 9 separate gems identical to the first. These pieces also began to grow, and when they were large enough, they shattered also. I put them in a small pile beside the chest and picked up a new jewel. An opal, a denser gem, and harder to replicate, it weighed about 2.5 ounces. It was a stunning example of its kind, but it had an imperfection in it that looked like a crouching cat. As I moved it into the light though, the imperfection disappeared. What could cause this? The answer came to me as quickly as a pouncing cat. I stepped to the side of it just in time and a bit of mane that stuck out from under my fedora's leather floated to the ground, loosed from its rightful place by an outstretched claw. What was with this cat? Normally animals liked me. Maybe some time outside a wall of denial would help her. Once I had made one around me and the gems, I searched through the chest for an interesting one. At the bottom of the chest was a diamond that was perfect in every way and weighed 8 ounces. This would be fun to replicate. Carefully and slowly, I added layers to it. After a minute, it had barely gained 2 ounces, but once I had gotten it to a pound, it still looked just as perfect as it had before. I envisioned it as two separate and equal pieces. Hairline fractures wormed their way into it in an equator. They inched themselves deeper into the jewel, nearly touching each other. As soon as they connected I heated the parts up and shaped them into the likeness of the original. They were beautiful. My admiration of them was cut short by claws in my side. In my concentration, the wall of denial had degraded and the cat seized the opportunity. Putting the diamonds onto the pile, I turned my head to look at her. She hissed at me and sank her claws deeper in toward my ribs. I gave her a look of incredulity and opened my wing. She went flying across the room and outside through the door that a small white filly with a pink and purple mane had just opened.

"What were you doing to Opalessence?"

"Removing her," I said, then turned back to the chest and lifted another jewel.

"Rarity wouldn't like you messing with her gems."

"I doubt she'll mind." I shattered the gem and showed her one of the new ones.

"How do you do that?"

"Someone taught me, long ago." I replicated them again, and Rarity and Derpy came out of the back room.

"What are you doing to my gems?!" Rarity asked hysterically. "Sweetie Belle, what is he doing to my gems?!"

I passed the diamonds to her. "You used to only have one of these."

"Wha- How- Why did you do this?!"

"I was bored. Are you two done?" Derpy nodded and I tipped my hat to the others as we walked out the door. Why did I stay there and replicate the gems? I could have found the other ponies on my own, and Pinkie could have found me for this party later. Then I realized why. I didn't want to forget who Derpy was.

* * *

**Sorry this chapter took awhile, I'm not very good at character building, and I'm also co-authoring with my brother on a different story. I think he's a better author than me, so I would suggest reading the story here: s/9125974/1/The-stars-of-the-Moon**

**As always, I don't own anything in this story but Seth. The ponies are owned by Hasbro, the words are owned by the English Language, and Nightfall is owned by NightfallTheDragon.**


	5. Trees

**Chapter 4**

**Trees**

A short way out of town, near a large woodland known as the Everfree Forest, Derpy showed me Fluttershy's cottage, but nobody was there. Hence, we skirted the edge of Ponyville to an elaborate cloud house.

"This is Rainbow Dash's house. She's probably out practicing or on weather patrol or-"

"Is that her?" I asked gesturing to a rainbow colored streak near the ground.

"I think so."

"Does she always fly that low?"

"I don't think so."

My horn glowed and a gust of wind pushed Dash to the ground near us.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"I needed to talk to you."

"Do you have to now? I'm kinda in a hurry."

"What is this hurry for?"

"Snowflake mentioned that there were an unusual amount of timberwolves currently."

"And?"

Fluttershy is in the forest, where the wolves are. Why am I telling you this? I should be finding her!"

"You were telling me because you need help, whether you would admit that or not. Would she be the only pony in the forest?"

"Probably, but I-"

Ignoring the rest of what she said, I gestured to Derpy to follow me. At the edge of the forest, I stopped and put my hoof up to a tree. "Eolimé," I whispered, and slid my hoof down the bark to the roots just past the treeline. "Both of you follow me closely. We will go in, retrieve Fluttershy, and return."

After a minute or so, we reached a small, herb filled clearing with Fluttershy in the middle gathering some of them. Dash dashed over to her and they began talking in hushed tones. Derpy and I stood apart from them.

"Derpy," I asked quietly, "Do you mind me running all over the place like this, dragging you along?"

"Not at all, why do you ask?" she replied quietly, though happy.

"They're here!" Dash yelled.

Spinning, I saw three wooden wolves jump out from between the trees. "Derpy! To the others!" She flew over to them and I put a wall of denial around them. These looked like they'd be hard enough to deal with without having to guard three untrained mares. One lunged at the mares, but crumpled on the wall to the sound of breaking wood and mares screaming. The wolf shook his head and his jaw flew off, but green magic reattached it. Great, the healed themselves.

The other two watched him, then turned to me snarling. One lunged at me, but I stepped aside, kicking it with a hind leg as it passed. 'That one's Shenzi' I thought. 'So that makes this one Banzi and the crumpled one Ed." I pulled a glaive out of the storage dimension and impaled the charging Banzi on it, then pulled down. The glaive spun around behind me into Shenzi's attempts to get up, then back around into Banzi's head. Ed got up, though clearly still dizzy. I leaped into the air and landed on his back, breaking it, then parted the company of his head and body.

Breathing out, I lowered the wall around the mares. They remained cowering as the timberwolves's stench increased. They were combining into one entity with three heads. I tried to reinstate the wall, but the wolf lunged into it and it flickered and dissipated. Shenzi's head leaned down drooling over the mares. A hind leg kicked me into the wall the tree branches had knit themselves into. Wood grasped at me as I slid to the ground wounded, pinning me there. Dash stood above Fluttershy and Derpy had scooted away, but what could they do? What could I do? They were too far away to aim reliably. I slammed my head into the ground in frustration, feeling energy flow out of me but for what purpose? The wolves' jaws began to close around the mares, sap dripping of every tooth.

Outside of the forest, a white pegasus stallion paced back and forth, thinking aloud. "They told me Dash went in here, but why? I can smell timberwolves. Do they have her? If they do, I should try to save her." He took a step toward the trees, then stopped. "But what if they don't? They must! Why else would they be so close? They do! I'll save her and she'll finally notice me!" He rushed into the woods, following the dreadful smell.

I watched helplessly as the teeth neared the mares. The earth shuddered slightly. Fluttershy Cowered harder, trying to get closer to the ground. Again the earth shook, and the wolf lost its balance, pulling away to recover it. AS it stepped forward again, the spirits and bones of an army burst from the ground into the wolf's side, lances splintering, axes splitting, swords slashing, mauls mauling. Hooves ground the fallen creature to dust, then a score of the dead knelt before me.

"Slave ducem Mythrion," one said, taking a step closer to me before kneeling. "We have heard rumors of you, but never did we expect to be of service."

"I thank you and your men greatly. Your timing was impeccable."

"All we have done is heeded the call of the general; 'tis a soldier's duty. All death has done is change the source of the call."

"What war caused your death?

"The War of Solitude, the War of the Lone Sister, the War that Threatened the Peace. It goes by many names to those who know of it. With your permission, sir, we wish to ask you a question."

"Ask, and I shall reply."

"My men and I seek respite from this cursed place. Your strength has called us, and now we wish to join you."

"It shall be done." One by one, the soldiers walked up to me and knelt, dissolving into a dark mist that flowed into me.

At the end of the line, the leader saluted me. "Klatchian brigade under Colonel Cotton at your service sir." I returned his salute and he too dissolved.

"What are you?" A stallion's voice said behind me, "You better not have hurt Rainbow."

While I turned to face him, Dash talked to him. "Calm down Nova. He's the only reason we're alive."

Nova was a white pegasus with a weathered gold mane. His ears had an odd glow behind them, and his eyes occasionally flashed. "That wasn't natural, what you did. What was it?"

"Necromancy."

"I thought so."

"Then why did you ask?"

"They said you were evil, this confirms it."

"The use of magic makes me evil? Then burn all mages."

"Not the use of magic. The use of that magic."

"Fool! What do you know of the art?"

"Two years ago, one of your kind murdered my family."

"Explain."

"He showed up in the middle of the night and when Dad tried to stop him the necromancer killed him." As he talked, I looked into his mind to see what he saw in his memory.

_A stallion in a black cloak stood at the head of the stairs, a family with shock on their faces before him. The cloaked one grinned as he took the souls of the family, one by one. As he turned to the last, Nova, two mares, in cloaks like the stallion's but green, burst through the door at the bottom of the stairs. Upon seeing the stallion, they ran to him and knocked him over. Mist flowed from them. The mist formed itself into two soldiers that held blades at the stallion's neck. He was marched down the stairs and out the door, Nova following. On the lawn, I saw myself, wearing a cloak the color of my mane, black with a reddish tinge._

_"Feardocha, you know your crime. I present you with options. Either return with me to be tried, or face me in combat." I spoke as one reciting orders._

_"You know my answer as well as you know me."_

_"Understood. Zokael, Lesha, I wish for the colt not to see this."_

_The soldiers that flanked Feardocha sheathed their swords and herded Nova inside, then shut the door. Outside, there were the sounds of combat for a while, but eventually, they stopped short with a scream. The guards evaporated, and Nova opened the door again. A giant stood over Feardocha, executioners sword held high above him._

_"You would do this to your own assistant?"_

_"Dura lex sed lex." I turned and the giant swung his sword, cleanly decapitating him. Spirits flowed from him and stood before me. The body sank into the ground. "Those who were taken illegitimately take three steps forward." Most of the spirits did so. "Those who wish to remain in service return to your first position." A few stepped back. "Zokael, how many wish to remain?"_

_"Seven sir. Two pegasi, two unicorns, two earth ponies, and one minatour."_

_"To the rest of you, I inter you so that your bodies may find peace and may you evermore be free." The front line imploded, their dust slowly settling into the earth. "I shall take with me the minotaur. Each of you take three of the ponies."_

_"Thank you my lord," the mares said._

_"Colt, I apologize for your loss. If you wish, we can escort you to the nearest town."_

_"Go. Just go. Go!" Nova screamed hysterically._

"You speak true, though I would expect thanks," I said once he was done.

"Thanks for what?"

"Your life."

"At the cost of my family?"

"There was naught to be done for them."

"You could have showed up sooner. Or brought them back to life."

"I am a guard, not a miracle worker. At that time, I was a monk. Tracking those who do not wish to be tracked through the night is not an easy task. Resurrection is the work of skilled clerics. Do you know even the basic workings of magic? I thought not. Begone with you unless you somehow have something of use to say."

Nova opened his mouth, then shut it and walked out of the clearing.

"I should be practicing," Dash said after a short time. "Thanks for the help. Bye!"

Fluttershy mumbled something, then she and Dash flew out of the clearing.

"We should probably get out too, Derpy."

"Yeah. Could you help me with something?"

"I hope so. What is it you desire help with?"

"I deliver mail, and was hoping that you could help."

"I can do that."

We flew off to her house, where a sack of mail sat outside. After we sorted it, I picked up the bags and we flew all over town delivering it. At each house with a delivery, we would stop and Derpy would cheerfully call out 'Mail for you!' followed by the recipient's name.

The last piece of mail was addressed to one Applejack of Sweet Apple Acres. "Mail for you Applejack!" Derpy called at the door of the farmhouse.

"Ah'm comin', ah'm comin'." A voice inside said. An orange earth pony in a Stetson walked out. "Thanks much sugarcube. Oh it's you," she said upon seeing me, "Ah've got a question for ya. When ya bought that pie yesterday, ah think ya overpaid me. Could ya wait here a tic?" She walked back into the house, then came back with two coins. "What the hay are these?"

"I lifted one to eye level. "Flecks, from that country bordering Mane that I forget the name of."

"The place they all speak fancy?"

"Yes."

"You've been there?"

"I've been everywhere man."

"Could ya look at something for me then?"

"What kind of something?

"Some of mah trees have something wrong with em."

"And you want me to look at them?"

"Yep."

"I can do that." We walked through seemingly endless orchards of apple trees. In the field where we stopped, the trees looked fairly normal, but when we got close, I could see bright green lines lacing the bark and fruit.

"Chlorophyll Adjustment Killing Epidemic. CAKE for short. Later discovered to not exist."

"Then what is it?"

"Emerald Active Tunneler Scarab. One infests each tree. All you have to do is find the end of the line and squish the bug."

"That'd take forever though."

"Fortunately though, I know an easier way. The green is the beetle's excrement. It burns at a much lower temperature than almost anything else. The apples will however be forfeit. I can also heal the bark where it has been obliterated."

"Ah'd appreciate it if you could do that."

I lit a small, cool flame on each EATS trail. As it burned, you could see the wood, but shortly after back closed over the wood. When the fire left an apple, the apple fell to the ground and broke open.

"Well ain't that fancy! Thanks much."

"You are most welcome. The scarabs probably will never return. They know the places they've lost. Is there anything else you require of us?"

"Exeptin' payement, no."

"We can settle that when next we meet. Good day to you." With that, Derpy and I took off, back toward town, toward the last of the six mares, Twilight Sparkle.

Copyrights... So many in this chapter to mention... Hasbro and MLP obviously, Terry Pratchet minorly, Valve slightly, Johnny Cash by one lyric not sure if that counts. Pretty sure that's it.

Over the summer, I work at a camp as kitchen staff, so I'll probably have more time to write, but less time to type it up. So if I post infrequently, don't worry, I'm still working on the story.


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